User blog:GlitterInformer/Doki Doki! Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Doki Doki SDC: Episode 11 (Sub), 9 (Dub)
Episode 10 (Sub), 8 (Dub) | Table of Contents | Episode 12 (Sub) Japanese title: "Awaken! Pretty Cure's New Power!" English title: "Helpful to a Fault" DD11 cover.png I’m excited for this episode for two reasons. First of all, it focuses on Mana/Maya’s duties as the student council president, which are something I want to see more in depth. Second, as you can judge by the Japanese episode title, we’re getting a brand new attack! It’ll probably be a group attack, which means that all of the warriors will get to finish the battles, not just Heart. With that said, let’s dive on in! The episode begins with Rikka/Rachel and a male classmate carrying papers. In the sub, Rikka comes across two female students bowing to Mana and asking her a favor, so she runs to Mana. In the dub, the girls bowing is cut, so Rachel instead runs over to Maya because she overhears added dialogue of them begging for Maya’s help. Here’s the removed footage. DD11 01 cut bowing 1.png|Girls: "Please!" Before the girls can even say what it is they want, Rikka/Rachel demands that Mana/Maya not do whatever it is. Rikka/Rachel sees that one of the girls has her arm in a cast and thus can already tell that they want Mana/Maya to sub for said girl on their sports team. Rikka recognizes the injured girl as Chiba, the captain of the softball team. Chiba is the girl’s surname, by the way, not her personal name. Rachel doesn’t recognize the girl. I should also note that Rachel comes across as a bit of a jerk in this scene. While Rikka is stern towards Mana and only Mana, Rachel is constantly angry when she speaks, making it seem like Rachel is mad at the two girls for daring to ask Maya’s help. Rikka/Rachel reminds Mana/Maya that she’s already busy as a Pretty Cure/Glitter Force warrior and as the student council president. However, Mana/Maya can’t resist helping the girls, especially since this is a very important game to them. In the sub, they’ll be kicked out of the preliminaries if they lose; in the dub, they need to win to make it to the finals. While the players explain this, more shots of them bowing is removed. DD11 02 cut bowing 2.png|Girls: "Please!" DD11 03 cut bowing 3.png|Mana: "I undestand. Please leave it to me." Rikka/Rachel tries to keep Mana/Maya from walking off with the two girls, but Mana/Maya ignores her. As they leave, Rikka/Rachel is exasperated that she has to deal with Mana/Maya overexerting herself yet again. We get the opening themes, and at last, the preview footage for Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage 2 is gone! I promise you all I will review that movie eventually. I just ordered it, so it should arrive between July 8th and July 23rd. The sub shows the title card. Then, we cut to softball practice. It turns out that Mana/Maya is a really good pitcher. One of the girls from earlier asks why they didn’t get Mana/Maya on the team earlier, and the other says that they tried but couldn’t. She’s about to say why when Mana/Maya notices a problem. One of the players has a shoelace that snapped. Fortunately, Mana/Maya has spares. As she runs out to get them, the captain finishes her sentence and says that Mana/Maya prefers to help other people than to be an athlete. One of the softball players is watching Mana/Maya in awe. Then, a teammate calls her name and tells her to get practicing. Name Change: In the sub, the softball player who was watching Mana has the last name of Kyouda. In the dub, her first name is Casey. Later, Kyouda/Casey is practicing throwing and catching with some teammates. The girl who called her over says that Mana/Maya is awesome, but that Kyouda/Casey will also be an ace player if she keeps practicing. Kyouda/Casey denies her compliment. While the two are talking, Kyouda/Casey is distracted and the ball flies right by her. As she runs to pick it up, she encounters, Makoto/Mackenzie, who picks the ball up for her and throws it back. There’s then a moment where Makoto/Mackenzie just stands there and stares at Mana/Maya. In the sub, it’s silent; in the dub, Casey’s teammate tells her to come back over and another teammate complains that Maya isn’t letting anyone hit the ball. We cut to Mana/Maya’s restaurant at night. The dub cuts an exterior shot of the restaurant and replaces it with two other exterior shots. Here’s what’s cut: DD11 04 cut restaurant.png|Mana: "I'm home...!" And here’s what’s added: DD11 05 added restaurant 1.png|Maya: "Mom, Dad, I'm home!" DD11 06 added restaurant 2.png|Maya: "Sorry I'm late! ...Oh, hi, girls!" Mana/Maya comes home and is surprised to find that Rikka/Rachel, Arisu/Clara, and Makoto/Mackenzie are there. Mana/Maya is worried that they’re leaving her out of their group, but Rikka/Rachel reminds her that they just got to her house before her because Mana/Maya was staying out late at softball practice. Arisu/Clara is excited to hear that Mana/Maya is playing softball, and she promises to cheer her on at the game next Sunday. Rikka/Rachel, however, is upset because thanks to Mana/Maya, she was left to do all of the student council duties by herself, from cleaning litter to putting up flyers. Rikka/Rachel also claims that Makoto/Mackenzie is upset because they haven’t had time to find out anything new about Princess Ange/Marie Angelica. Makoto/Mackenzie says that she isn’t as upset as she is confused at how Mana/Maya can put so much energy into helping others. Mana/Maya explains that it’s because so many people need her and because helping others feels great. Then, we get another scene with Makoto/Mackenzie and DB/Davi in the car. That means – you guessed it – more flipping! DD11 07 japanese car 1.png DD11 08 english car 1.png DD11 09 japanese car 2.png|Makoto: "Is helping others really so much fun?" DB: "You mean Cure Heart?" Makoto: "Yeah." DD11 10 english car 2.png|Mackenzie: "Does helping others just come more naturally to some people?" Davi: "Are you talking about Maya?" Mackenzie: "Yeah." DD11 11 japanese car 3.png|DB: "Didn't you sing for others back in the Trump Kingdom? You found joy in it, didn't you?" DD11 12 english car 3.png|Davi: "Do you remember when... you used to sing for the princess? She enjoyed it so much. Everyone did. Didn't it feel good to make them happy?" DD11 13 japanese car 4.png|Makoto: "I'm not sure." DD11 14 english car 4.png|Mackenzie: "I suppose it did." DD11 15 japanese car 5.png|DB: "Then why not go cheer her on?" DD11 16 english car 5.png|Davi: "Of course it did. You just needed a little reminder, that's all." DD11 17 japanese car 6.png|DB: "It might motivate you." DD11 18 english car 6.png|Davi: "That's why you should definitely go to that softball game." DD11 19 japanese car 7.png|Makoto: "It might." DD11 20 english car 7.png|Mackenzie: "All right." In case the captions aren’t working for you, the scene goes like this: Makoto/Mackenzie asks how Mana/Maya enjoys helping others so much. DB/Davi says that it isn’t too different from Makoto/Mackenzie singing for everyone and suggests that she cheer herself up by watching Mana/Maya’s softball game. The next scene takes place in the villains’ hideout. In the sub, we cut directly to it; in the dub, we fade to black and then cut to it. This time, Bel is the one bowling rather than Ira. Bel is doing it much more competently, too; although Ira got gutter balls every time we saw him bowling before, Bel consistently gets strikes. However, Bel is angry. He’s still upset over Cure/Glitter Heart beating him in episode 7->6. He flashes back to her using My Sweet Heart/Let Your Heart Light Shine on him. In the sub, this flashback is silent; in the dub, we hear Bel grunting in pain just as he did when it happened. Bel is so angry that his next strike breaks the bowling pins rather than just knocking them down. In the sub, Ira tells Bel not to pop a blood vessel and Marmo tells Ira to let him be. In the dub, Ira tells Bel that he wishes he could destroy the Glitter Force like he did with the bowling pins, Marmo tells him not to rile up “Grandpa”, and Bel gets mad because Marmo called him “Grandpa”. The next scene takes place at practice, where the softball team is shocked when they find that Mana/Maya has put their uniforms through the laundry. In the sub, one of the players says that the first-years (7th graders in Japan) are supposed to do the laundry; in the dub, she instead says that the low-level players are responsible for laundry duty. Another teammate says that Mana/Maya should be practicing instead of doing the laundry. However, Mana/Maya says that her practice is no more important than anyone else’s and that all of the players, not just Mana/Maya, should practice together as a team. Mana/Maya even says that someday, they’re going to be the starters instead of her. Mana/Maya then leads the first-years/low-level players on a jog. The two softball players from the beginning of the episode admire Mana/Maya’s work. In the sub, one of them says that Mana is a good leader and the other says that she can’t wait for the game tomorrow; in the dub, they both say that Maya isn’t just a pitcher, but a coach for the whole team. That evening, after Mana/Maya says goodbye to the teammates, she’s greeted by Joe/Johnny and Ai/Dina. Mana/Maya is delighted to see the baby again. Joe/Johnny explains that he wanted to go to the store to get more food for Ai/Dina. Then, he notices what Mana/Maya is wearing. Joe asks why Mana is wearing a sports uniform, while Johnny asks what Maya is wearing and if it’s a space suit. Off-screen, the three go on a walk together as Mana/Maya tells him about being on the softball team. Joe/Johnny says that he and Ai/Dina should come to the game to cheer her on. Then, he decides to give Mana/Maya a new Cure Lovies/Glitter Charm for good luck. This one’s unlike the others and has a bow and arrow on it. However, Ai/Dina, who is in Mana/Maya’s arms, grabs the Lovies/Charm instead. Joe/Johnny sees that she likes it, so he fastens it to her bib. Then, the three are interrupted by Bel, who has come to defeat Heart once and for all. Sharuru/Kippie whispers to Mana/Maya that she needs to be careful. However, Mana/Maya doesn’t transform. In the sub, Mana looks at Joe and thinks that she can’t reveal her secret identity by transforming in front of him; in the dub, this is cut short so Maya doesn’t think anything. Mana/Maya tells Bel that she refuses to fight him. In the sub, Mana says that she has no reason to fight Bel, Bel asks why Mana refuses to fight after having seen the ruins of the Trump Kingdom, Mana says that beating him won’t bring the kingdom back, and Bel is enraged that Mana is speaking like she’s already won. In the dub, Maya asks what sort of person would appear out of nowhere and ask her to fight, Bel says that sort of person is the sort of person who will destroy Earth just like he did Splendorius, Maya says that the fight wouldn’t be fair because Bel is a lot older than her and wears glasses, and Bel gets angry that Maya called him old. Bel shoots a lightning bolt at Mana/Maya, causing her and Joe/Johnny to dodge it by jumping away. He tells Mana/Maya to transform and shoots another lightning bolt. This time, Joe/Johnny shoves Mana/Maya out of the way of the bolt only to get electrocuted himself and fall unconscious. When Bel mocks Joe/Johnny, Mana/Maya calls him out for making fun of somebody who tried to save another person’s life. Mana just sounds angry during this line; Maya sounds angry and sad at the same time. Then, Bel summons a ball that surrounds Ai/Dina. He makes it float over to him. Mana/Maya demands that he give Ai/Dina back, but he refuses to do so unless she confronts him alone, without any of her teammates. In the sub, Bel tells her to meet him at the Yotsuba Terminal at 8 A.M.; in the dub, he tells her to meet him at the harbor at noon. He then teleports away with Ai/Dina, leaving a distraught Mana/Maya to scream after her. The sub has the eyecatches. Then, we cut to the softball game, which just so happens to coincide with the time that Bel has demanded that Mana/Maya meet him. Rikka/Rachel, Arisu/Clara, Makoto/Mackenzie, and Sebastian have arrived only to find that the game has been delayed because Mana/Maya isn’t there. Naturally, her teammates are angry, especially the captain. We then cut to a nearby hospital. Its name is changed from Oogai (pronounced “oh-guy”) Hospital to Bay Hospital. Thus, its sign is changed, even though it’s already in English in the original. DD11 21 oogai hospital.png|Oogai Hospital DD11 22 bay hospital.png|Bay Hospital Joe/Johnny is a patient at the hospital because of his electrocution the night before. He’s gotten out of his hospital bed and is trying to leave the building in a vain attempt to warn Mana/Maya that she’s walking into a trap. However, he’s still very weak, so he collapses before he can even make it down the hallway. Mana/Maya has arrived at the harbor just like she was asked to. There’s some bad animation at the beginning of this scene that makes it look like some seagulls are stuck in position flapping their wings rather than flying. But anyway, Bel teleports there, too, and is happy to see that Mana/Maya fulfilled her promise. Mana/Maya demands to see Ai/Dina, so Bel summons her there in her ball prison. He’ll release her only if Mana/Maya defeats him in battle. Reluctantly, Mana/Maya transforms into Cure/Glitter Heart. Strangely enough, Cure Heart does not do the final part of her transformation where she says her introduction, but Glitter Heart does. Also, Cure Heart’s catchphrase that she does with her hands in the heart shape is different; rather than vowing to return Bel’s doki doki, she instead says that she’ll take Ai back. Before the fight begins, we cut back to the softball field. Rikka/Rachel and Arisu/Clara have tried contacting Sharuru/Kippie by using Raquel/Rory and Lance, but they’ve gotten no response. What’s more, the referee won’t let Mana/Maya’s team wait any longer for her; if they can’t amass their entire team, they’ll be automatically disqualified. Makoto/Mackenzie looks upon the scene and has some mental dialogue. Makoto sympathizes with the team, as they’ve lost the person upon whom they’ve relied the most. Mackenzie, on the other hand, wonders why Maya hasn’t come because it isn’t like her to abandon people who need her. Then, Kyouda/Casey runs up to the captain and calls to her. We finally get to find out her dub name, so… Name Change: If you recall the beginning of the episode, the team captain is surnamed Chiba in the sub. In the dub, her first name is Sheila. Kyouda/Casey asks Chiba/Sheila if she can pitch instead of Mana/Maya. She and the others explain that Mana/Maya taught them all that the whole team is important, not just Mana/Maya. Chiba/Sheila agrees, so Kyouda/Casey goes up to the pitcher’s mound and the game begins at last. Her first pitch results in a strike. Meanwhile, Sebastian walks up to Arisu/Clara and whispers something in her ear. In the dub, Sebastian also audibly says that he knows where Maya is. After this, the sub cuts directly to Cure Heart and Bel’s fight at the harbor. The dub, however, adds in a group transformation with Rikka/Rachel, Arisu/Clara, and Makoto/Mackenzie. It’s a waste of 47 seconds, in my opinion. This episode focuses on Mana/Maya, and we already got her full transformation. It can be safely assumed that the other three transformed on the way there. I just hope that the dub doesn’t have to cut out 47 seconds of more useful content later. We then get to the fight. Already, we’re having some high-quality fighting animation here. It’s far better than the previous 8 episodes (7 for the dub), and it might just get right up there with the absolutely excellent fights in episodes 1 & 2->1. Let’s see what happens! First, Heart rapidly punches and kicks at Bel, but he dodges everything. Cure Heart just grunts; Glitter Heart taunts Bel and tells him to take “This! And this! And this!” and so on. Then, when Heart starts panting, Bel taunts her for getting tired. Heart nonetheless tries to punch him, but Bel trips her. As she falls to the ground, Bel snaps. This somehow allows him to control the cranes surrounding the dock. They drop heavy crates where Heart is standing, causing him to dodge. Sharuru says that she knew this was a trap, while Kippie complains that Bel is fighting unfairly. Heart calls Bel out for his cowardice. Bel says that being called a coward is a compliment to his group. Name Change: It seems that in the sub, the villains in general, not just their monsters, are called Jikochuu. Not very creative. If you recall from earlier, the villains in the dub are instead called Mercenares. Bel then shows that his magical finger snap works on land machinery, too. With a snap of his fingers, a truck drives itself right over to where Heart is kneeling. Despite the truck seeming to take a good long time to get to Heart, she doesn’t move. In the dub, Kippie even mocks her for it. Maybe it’s because she’s in shock and the truck is actually moving more quickly than Heart perceives it, though. Fortunately, before the truck can hit her, Diamond freezes it to a stop using Twinkle Diamond. While Cure Diamond shouts the entire incantation for the attack, Glitter Diamond only says the attack name. When Diamond, Rosetta/Clover, and Sword/Spade arrive, Rosetta/Clover explains to a confused Heart that Sebastian located her. In the sub, Cure Rosetta says that even the MVP can’t do everything on her own and Cure Diamond says that Pretty Cure should work as a team. In the dub, Glitter Clover says that Sebastian is very good at locating people and Glitter Diamond teases Glitter Heart for going on adventures without her. Sword/Spade tells Heart that the team is doing their very best without her, which cheers Heart up. Oddly, Heart isn’t the least bit perturbed by the fact that Bel will now likely try to kill Ai/Dina since Heart is no longer fighting alone. Then, the quartet jumps into the air. In the sub, each warrior gives her transformation introduction; in the dub, only Heart does so, even though she already did earlier. The group then gives their group catchphrase and poses. You’d think that at this point, Bel would kill Ai/Dina right then and there as punishment for Heart bringing backup. But instead, he pulls a dark Psyche right out of his jacket, shrinks it down, and eats it, turning himself into a cell phone Jikochuu/Distain. In the sub, only he speaks as he does this; in the dub, the Glitter Force speaks over it. Glitter Spade wonders where Bel got the “dark heartbeat” from and Glitter Clover is disgusted by Bel eating it. Name Change: Thanks to Glitter Spade, I now probably know the English name for a Psyche. In the dub, its name is changed to a heartbeat. So far, the term has only been used for a contaminated Psyche, called a dark heartbeat. In the sub, Bel calls himself Bel Beast now that he’s a monster. The girls then stare awkwardly at Bel. In the sub, they want to say something, likely that “Bel Beast” is a stupid name, but they’re not sure how to put it. In the dub, they’re weirded out because flip phones are outdated. Flip phones were probably outdated in 2013, the year that Doki Doki! Pretty Cure aired, but they were definitely outdated in 2017, when Glitter Force Doki Doki was published. The fight begins, and although it’s fine, it isn’t as cool as when it started. First, Bel turns on the flash on his camera to blind the girls. Then, he takes advantage of their temporary blindness to fling Diamond and Rosetta/Clover into some walls. Sword/Spade tries to kick Bel, but he closes around her and vibrates, disorienting her. Heart jumps up to save her, but Bel releases Sword/Spade right into Heart, knocking them both down. Heart won’t give up. Cure Heart says that they can’t lose until they get Ai back; Glitter Heart says that Bel’s number is “about to get disconnected”. She tries to defeat him with My Sweet Heart/Let Your Heart Light Shine, but Bel closes around the beam, causing it to dissipate. In the sub, Bel tells the girls not to think he’s weak; in the dub, Bel says they don’t make phones sturdy like they used to. Then, Bel floats in the air, spins rapidly, and flies into the warriors to knock them over. In the sub, he doesn’t have any dialogue as he does this; in the dub, he says, “You wanna see another trick? Can you hear me now? Crash mode!” The footage of the girls getting knocked away is slightly darkened. DD11 23 japanese knockout.png|Pretty Cure: *screams* DD11 24 english knockout.png|Glitter Force: *screams* Bel then pulls out an antenna, which turns out to be detachable and have a very sharp point. In the dub, Bel calls it a stylus and Glitter Heart calls it a “pointy thing”. He’s finally gotten around to punishing Heart for breaking her promise to fight alone. Bel throws the pointy antenna/stylus. It’s about to stab Ai/Dina in the back. Then, Heart screams. Cure Heart screams for Bel to stop; Glitter Heart screams for Dina, who is currently asleep, to wake up. This causes Heart’s brooch to light up, as well as Ai/Dina’s Cure Lovies/Glitter Charm. Ai/Dina wakes up and shouts (“Kyupirappa!” in the sub; “Dinawaaah!” in the dub). This surrounds the baby with an aura that bursts the ball surrounding her and disintegrates the antenna/stylus before it can impale her. The Cure Lovies/Glitter Charm that Ai/Dina has summons three replicas of itself: one in blue, one in yellow, and the other in purple. Each one of the four Lovies/Charms flies towards the warrior of its color. Realizing they’ve been given an upgrade, the girls hold the Lovies/Charms against their chests and then call for their new weapon. Name Change: In the sub, the weapons are called the Love Heart Arrows. In the dub, they’re the Glitter Heart Arrows. The dub name is weird because only one of the four Glitter Heart Arrows belongs to Glitter Heart. You think they’d change the word “Heart” to something else. Each warrior has a fancy looking bow-and-arrow thing appear in front of her. Cure Diamond says they should use their Cure Lovies with the Love Heart Arrows; Glitter Diamond just asks, “What are we waiting for?” Bel interrupts by summoning a new antenna/stylus and throwing it right at the group. I thought that we’d get a group attack with the arrows here. But instead, we get a slew of individual attacks! Rosetta/Clover’s new attack comes first. Name Change: Cure Rosetta’s second attack is called Rosetta Reflection. Glitter Clover’s is Clover Reflection. The attack consists of Rosetta/Clover putting her new Lovies/Charm into her Love/Glitter Heart Arrow, summoning a giant clover-shaped shield. The dub adds dialogue where Glitter Clover says, “Activate Glitter Charm!” when she puts her Glitter Charm in. It also has her cry out in joy when her shield forms. Also, there’s a sound change. In the sub, the Love Heart Arrow plays music as Cure Rosetta slides her finger down the middle. In the dub, there is no sound effect as this happens. During Rosetta/Clover Reflection, the light coming from the tip of the Love/Glitter Heart Arrow is reduced. In the sub, it’s so bright that the heart at the end is obscured and white. In the dub, the heart is yellow and the pattern on it is still visible. DD11 25 rosetta reflection 1.png DD11 26 clover reflection 1.png Additionally, the light that comes out of Rosetta/Clover’s arrow is tinted green. DD11 27 rosetta reflection 2.png DD11 28 clover reflection 2.png DD11 29 rosetta reflection 3.png DD11 30 clover reflection 3.png|Glitter Clover: "Wah!" When the light turns into a shield, the shield is tinted, too. DD11 31 rosetta reflection 4.png DD11 32 clover reflection 4.png The shield from Rosetta/Clover Reflection blocks the antenna/stylus from hitting Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force. Then, Diamond uses her new attack. In both versions, it’s called Diamond Shower. Like before, the light from the tip of Diamond’s arrow is reduced, though not by as much. DD11 33 japanese diamond shower.png DD11 34 english diamond shower.png Also like before, Glitter Diamond says, “Activate Glitter Charm!” to begin the attack, and the music that plays when Cure Diamond touches the Love Heart Arrow is removed. The tune that plays is the same as in Rosetta Reflection, but the instrumentation is different. The music in Rosetta Reflection is gentle-sounding, while the music in Diamond Shower has harsher and older-fashioned synth. When Diamond holds the Love/Glitter Heart Arrow to her chest, Cure Diamond is silent, while Glitter Diamond grunts. Then, Diamond holds the arrow into the sky and bangs it like a tambourine, summoning snowflakes that freeze Bel’s entire body rather than just his legs like Twinkle Diamond would have. Now, it’s time for Sword/Spade’s new attack, Sparkle Sword. Just like before, Glitter Spade says, “Activate Glitter Charm!”, the music (which is made by a piano this time) is removed, and the light from the Love/Glitter Heart Arrow is reduced. DD11 35 japanese sparkle sword.png DD11 36 english sparkle sword.png Sparkle Sword is pretty much the same as Holy Sword/Sparkle Flash, except that instead of summoning the tiny blades by slashing her arm, Sword/Spade instead pulls back on the bottom of the Love/Glitter Heart Arrow. This attack has pretty much no effect on Bel. Like Holy Sword/Sparkle Flash, it’s pretty much pointless when it isn’t being used to purify the enemy. Finally, it’s Heart’s turn. Name Change: Cure Heart’s new attack is Heart Shoot. Glitter Heart’s new attack is Heart Shot. Same edits as the last three (the music in this attack’s done with a xylophone). Here’s the edited footage: DD11 37 heart shoot.png DD11 38 heart shot.png For some reason, the visual edit to the heart’s light disappears for the rest of the attack. The tip of the Love/Glitter Heart Arrow is still visible when Heart swings it around before performing her attack. She then pulls back on the end of the weapon, which summons a giant, glowing heart. Finally, with a wink (and a giggle in the dub), Heart lets go and shoots the heart at Bel. In the sub, the heart moves and flickers and a quick-moving flash appears before Heart shoots it. This is removed in the dub, probably to prevent people from getting seizures due to the flickering lights. DD11 39 cut heart shoot 1.png DD11 40 cut heart shoot 2.png The heart surrounds Bel, turning him back to his normal form and causing him to fall to the ground. Then, in the sub, the Psyche that Bel ate is restored (what end did it come out of?) and flies back into the chest of a truck driver. This is removed in the dub. Perhaps the poor driver never got his heartbeat back in the English version. DD11 41 cut psyche 1.png DD11 42 cut psyche 2.png|Bel: *grunts* DD11 43 cut psyche 3.png DD11 44 cut psyche 4.png|Truck driver: *grunts* "Huh? What was I...?" Everything turns back to normal and Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force cheerfully reunited with Ai/Dina. In the sub, as Bel looks on, he notes that the baby can create miracles; in the dub, he says that he wants a baby like her and then remembers that he hates babies. He then leaves. Unbeknownst to any of them, Joe/Johnny has made it to the scene and is secretly watching. He’s relieved to see that the fight had a good outcome. We, along with the main characters, return to the softball game at last. Before we see the girls arriving, the dub adds in some shots of a strange new girl who menacingly says that she wants to “play” with the Glitter Force. DD11 45 added villain 1.png|???: "So, where's this Glitter Force I've heard so much about?" DD11 46 added villain 2.png|???: "I want to play with them. ...Aha, here they come..." *giggles* DD11 47 added villain 3.png Right now, it’s the top of the ninth inning, and the Oogai First/Seashell Bay team is playing defense. Currently, Oogai First/Seashell Bay is up by 1 point, so if they maintain the lead, the game will end because there will be no way for the opposing team to catch up. There are two outs, so it will take only one more out for the game to end. However, the bases are loaded (meaning that there is an opposing team member on every one of the three bases). Basically, if Kyouda/Casey doesn’t cause a strikeout, the opposing team will gain a huge lead and Oogai First/Seashell Bay will most likely lose the game. Everything depends upon her. Japanese text on a scoreboard is changed to English. DD11 48 japanese scoreboard.png|Touei Oogai DD11 49 english scoreboard.png|Tigers Otters Kyouda/Casey’s latest pitch results in a ball. That’s 3 balls so far. A fourth ball will result in everyone moving up a base, so the person on third base will make it to home plate and tie up the game. Even worse, a hit will result in all four people on the field making it to home plate, so the opposing team will be up by 3 points. Naturally, Kyouda/Casey is feeling the pressure. Mana/Maya notices and loudly cheers Kyouda/Casey on, telling her that she has the potential to be a successful pitcher. Emboldened by this, Kyouda/Casey makes the fateful pitch. The batter swings but barely misses. It’s a strikeout, so Oogai First/Seashell Bay Middle School wins the game. The softball team, plus Mana/Maya and company, celebrate their school’s victory. Then, after the game, Mana apologizing to the team for abandoning them is cut because of Mana bowing. DD11 50 cut bowing 4.png|Mana: "Everyone, I know a simple apology won't cut it..." DD11 51 cut bowing 5.png|Mana: "...but I'm really sorry!" Kyouda: "Geez, we never thought for a moment that you wouldn't show up!" Mana: "Sorry." DD11 52 cut bowing 6.png|Kyouda: "But this week made me realize something." Mana: "Oh?" Kyouda/Casey says that Mana/Maya taught her something very important: that you can’t just rely on other people and instead must sometimes act yourself. In the dub, Casey says that they don’t even need Maya, realizes belatedly how rude that sounded, and says that it’s teamwork, not reliance, that makes anything possible. DB/Davi is delighted to see that the softball team took this important lesson to heart. Accordingly, Makoto/Mackenzie also realizes that teamwork is important, so she vows to work with her friends because working together makes anything, even saving her ruined kingdom, possible. Overall: I really liked this episode. You remember how I was complaining about Mana/Maya starting to act less and less like herself and more and more like every other Pretty Cure protagonist? Well, Mana/Maya’s character is back on track here. It was nice seeing Mana/Maya learn about the importance of focusing on her own duties rather than the duties of others. I also loved the lesson that sometimes, rather than taking help, you should help yourself. This episode’s message is a great one. What’s more, it got serious. Bel is my favorite villain in this show because he actually has a personality and he’s a very competent fighter as well. Sure, he loses every time, but he puts up one heck of a fight. His phone form in this episode was ridiculous but undoubtedly powerful as well. And his taking Ai/Dina hostage… that got surprisingly dark, especially considering that an adult man is luring a child away from her family and friends and nobody is allowed to know about it. He also came very close to deliberately killing a baby. Also awesome were the new attacks. It was a bit overwhelming getting all of the individual attacks at once rather than a big group attack, but all of them looked cool and had great effects. Well, except for Sparkle Sword, which was just useless. Hopefully Sparkle Sword is put to good use later. The only complaint I have about this episode is the dub’s voice acting. Though it is better than last time, there were some moments of stiltedness with Maya, Clara, and the softball players. With one last note, I’d like to add that the sub never did show that girl who appeared near the end of the English episode. I wonder when she’ll come up…? Next time: Mana gets a disciple! Category:Blog posts